Sunday, May 22, 2011

Day Thirteen

Today we spent the day with a missions group from a Baptist church in Dallas working with Buckner to minister in the orphanages here in St. Petersburg. We visited Peterhoff Palace. Even though we couldn't take pictures inside the palace I think our day is best explained with pictures.

The outside of the palace. This summer palace was originally lived in by Peter the Great. It is right on the gulf of Finland.
The main features of the palace are the parks and the fountains. The amazing part to me is the lack of pumps. These fountains are powered completely by gravity.
This is Irina. We have been working with her on our adoption for a long time and it was wonderful to finally meet her. This picture doesn't do her justice. She is very pretty, but shorter than I expected.
The central fountain in the whole park. Yes, that is a lion with it's mouth being torn open. It was in celebration of Russia's victory over Sweden.



This is the group we traveled with today. They were sight seeing in the mornings and visiting orphanages in the afternoons. I think they are here until Wednesday and then they travel to Moscow. They were very welcoming people and it was wonderful to hear everyone speaking English!! They all belong to the same Sunday School class. This sounds like a good idea, right Sis. Barbara??!!
A view looking back at the palace.
Several people were dressed in period clothing and you could have your picture taken with them.
Some live musicians
A statue of Adam in the center of a fountain. This statue, along with many other statues, decorations, paintings, and historical items, were saved during the Nazi invasion.
A view of the gulf of Finland.
Three dragons at the top of a fountain....
And a cave at the bottom.
JJ and I enjoying the nice weather. Irina was kind enough to take our picture together.
One of the many buildings inside the park.

Whew! I hope that gives a pretty good idea of the day. JJ actually took over 150 pictures so it was difficult to decide on the best ones. The weather was just wonderful today and it was so nice to meet our new friends. We are super tired though. Tomorrow will be quiet. We are back to our quiet apartment living for one more week.

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